GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A hearing on whether an injunction against Kristina Karamo can be issued is scheduled to resume Thursday.
A Kent County judge has allowed a lawsuit filed against her by some members of the Michigan Republican Party to go forward. They claim that she is no longer the state party chair, following a vote by a state committee in January.
The Republican National Party has recognized former West Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra as the new chair, following a vote by a state party committee. But Karamo contends she is still the chair, based on another vote by a different state party committee.
"The RNC has no legal authority to dictate who the chair is," Karamo said on West Michigan Live.
She contends the state committee that voted to remove her did not follow the party's bylaws. Karamo says a separate group of state committee members that voted for her in January should be considered the legitimate vote on who is the party chair.
The two sides are planning separate presidential caucuses to award Michigan's delegates to the Republican National Convention in July.
"There are not two conventions," Hoekstra told host Justin Barclay Wednesday morning on West Michigan Live. "There is one convention that will be recognized by the RNC. It is the one that is being called by the person that is being recognized as the chairperson of the Michigan GOP. That is in Grand Rapids."
The convention will take place March 2 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Karamo has scheduled a separate meeting in the Detroit area the same day.
"The bottom line is, she was removed for lack of performance by the state committee. They elected a new chairman. The RNC said that process was totally appropriate and proper," Hoekstra said.
He is a former Ambassador to the Netherlands.
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